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“Historical Snake River Jump”

On September 24th 1974, Knievel had attempted to jump over the Snake River but his parachute deployed while still over the canyon, causing him to fall 500 ft. to the rocks below. Numerous people have come forward with plans to replicate the stunt, but with the red tape involved – FAA clearance, liability issues and city ordinances – kept everyone on the ground.

A determined Eddie Braun spent three years and nearly $1.5 million of his own money to see the project through. Braun told reporters, “At the end of the day, my right hand will be on a switch.” He said. “I hit that switch, and if everything goes right, I’m going to go 0 to 430 mph in less than 3.9 seconds. As I’m praying inwardly, I will pull a series of other Handles; the first one will deploy a Rocketman Ballistic Drogue chute to slow the rocket down from 400mph to about 200 mph. so the main parachute can be deployed and without ripping apart. We also had a radio controlled back up recovery system that also used another Rocketman Ballistic drogue chute. Braun told his documentary filmmaking partners to finish production on a forthcoming feature, even if he didn’t make it, so long as they would “cover my puddle with something dignified.”